Page 13 of Royal Shark
We head down the street at a brisk pace. Sara has that New Yorker stride, purposeful and fast, like there’s no time to waste. My guard trails behind us.
“Silvia’s exactly the same,” she says. “Still a bookworm. She even looks the same just taller.” She glances up at me. “I don’t mean to stare at you. I’m just trying to reconcile this look with how you were.”
“Guess it’s going to take some time to get over the shock of me in all my manly glory.” I pound my chest with a fist in a Neanderthal display.
She doesn’t laugh. Instead, she tucks her hair behind her ears, pink dotting her cheeks as she looks straight ahead. “It is a bit of a shock. So what’ve you been up to lately?”
“Should I give you the rundown since we last spoke?”
“Sure. Tell me about the past thirteen years.”
“Graduated from Cambridge, where I studied mathematics with a concentration in statistics and probability. I immediately put my degree to use as a stellar poker player. Important work, I know. Now I run a casino on Villroy and watch other people lose at poker.”
She nods. “Sounds perfect for you. How’s the casino business?”
“Well, it’s only been a month, but we got off to a flying start. It helps that we get the overflow of clients from the day spa next door, and they’re really busy in the summer. Now I just have to figure out how to keep visitors up, and how to be a little sweeter.”
She looks up at me quizzically. “Sweeter?”
“Silvia says I need to put more sweet in my voice.” I lift one shoulder. “Just because my assistant cowers from me and staff are afraid to come to me with problems.”
Her brows draw together. “Bad advice. The boss can’t be sweet. It’s good that they fear you.”
“It’s not like they’re terrified. They’re just intimidated by my title and the fact that I have no patience for incompetency.”
“And you shouldn’t tolerate incompetency. They can’t do the work—” she hitches a thumb and lets out a sharp whistle “—so long! Now the customers, that’s another story. It’s all light and fun for them.”
“Is that how you run your poker game?”
She stiffens. “Silvia told you about that?”
“Yes, she thought I might like to play while I was in town. You have room at the table tomorrow? She said you play Tuesdays.”
“No room, sorry. We’ve got our ten.”
“How about I just watch? I could rotate in if someone wants to take a break or leaves early. It happens.”
“I’ll let you know.”
My senses go on full alert. She’s being cagey, not even letting me watch. “You play twice a week, right? When’s the next game after that?”
“How’s the rest of your family? I heard Gabriel is king now. Crap. Sorry.” She winces. “I’m sorry about your dad.”
“Thanks. My family is doing well. Gabriel is doing a fantastic job as leader, along with his wife. They’re taking Villroy into the next century while still holding on to our history and traditions. It was a genius move to transition the commercial fishing industry to cosmetics manufacturing using stuff from the sea. Fish oil, algae, and the like.”
“That’s great to hear. Silvia told me a bit about it. She sounded really proud of her part in helping with research for the cosmetics and the spa.”
“It’s been a family venture, everyone involved. I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished too.”
We walk in silence for a few moments. It’s comfortable like we’re walking along the beach again, some part of us remembering each other despite all the time that’s passed. I want to know more about her game, her life, basically everything, but there’s one thing I’m dying to know most of all.
“Do you remember our pact?” I ask with a smile.
Her expression goes blank. “Pact? We had a pact?”
“You don’t remember?” She must. It was an intense moment. At least for me. “We said we’d meet up again when we were twenty-five and get married.”
“I never said that.”
